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You have to know when you don’t hear from me in several days it is because my
life has been crazy busy… and blogging takes a back seat to living in the
moment. And what a week it has been!

The most precious thing that happened this week is that my hubby and I
celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary… Wow.. I think we were both in shock to
realize we’d been married 30 years! We spent time reminiscing and reflecting on
God’s blessing on our lives. I love this man more today than ever before. He has
been an amazing husband. He has held me when I cried, cheered me on when I
succeeded in personal goals, we’ve worked together to reach so many goals in our
life. We made 8 amazing babies who’ve grown (and are growing) into amazing
adults. Our start in life was so rocky.. and I’ve felt like our life was nothing
short of an example of God’s grace, love and blessings.

When we met neither of us were Christians. I was 16, living with my mother and
step father who were both alcoholics. He had just moved to the West Coast from
Chicago with his own issues and problems. He was my next door neighbor. We met,
dated, and spent tons of time together. But we had an up and down type of
relationship.. like what you’d expect from a 16 and 18 year old… we were just
kids.

At 17, one month before my 18th birthday I found out I was pregnant. I was
devastated… my step father told me… “I’ve raised my kids and I won’t be raising
any more”. Abortion was totally not a choice as far as I was concerned and Tobin
said there was no way he was going to let someone unknown raise his child.
However he was not ready for marriage. He told me… I’ll take care of you, I’ll
take care of our baby.. I’m just not ready to marry. So I moved in with him. I
finished high school.. worked a part time job and then had our first born,
Richard, that fall.

By the following spring life was not going that great. We argued, fought, and
struggled. He was going to school, we were both working as apartment managers,
and dealing with being thrown from childhood/teenage life to adult life with
real responsibilities. My grandmother was such an incredibly godly woman. Years
later she told me, before she died.. she prayed for me every single day… to all
you grandmas out there (myself included)… pray every day for your grandchildren!
They need prayer warriors in their life! Well as our life was crumbling… I
remembered my grandmother and her great faith in God.. and how she was so on
fire for HIM… And as I looked at my life.. I had nowhere to go… a step father
who would not take me back, a father who could not, and a little
baby that needed a mama.. and a daddy… what was I going to do? At what was the
bottom for me, I reached out to God.. the one my grandmother taught me about..
and the result.. was nothing short of miraculous… I accepted Jesus into my life,
in less than one month, Tobin accepted Jesus into his life, and we were married
one month later.

If anyone had looked at our life prior to this they would have said… “where
could this possibly go?” Because all the odds were totally against us.. young,
stupid, unprepared, struggling with money and life… a recipe for disaster in
anyone’s book.. except GODS!! He pulled us both up, gave us hope, gave us love,
gave us grace, and gave us a blessed life.

My husband finished school, got a job, we had another baby, and another, and
another… ~smile~ We jumped into life with both feet, holding each other’s hand….
And what an amazing journey our life has been.

It still has had its ups and downs, victories, defeats, encouragements,
discouragements… but one thing my husband and I have found to always be true no
matter what.. GOD… His love, His grace.. His longsuffering, His blessings… Jesus
is always the answer …

So on Tuesday… we celebrated 30 years of marriage… 30 years of love… 30 years of
hard work.. 30 years of babies, children, young people, adults, grandchildren…
30 years of blessing… Thank you Jesus…

Comments

Congratulations on 30 years of marriage and thank you for sharing your story with us. It's good to know that it's not all plain sailing but with hard work you can get through most things. I am due to get married for the second time in 2016 and looking at you guys 30 years in gives me hope that this time will be the last time. Much Love Claire at frugal living xxx

Crystal, this is just an amazing post. I'm sure others have been blessed by it, because I know I sure have. Thank you so much for sharing this. Happy Anniversary! May God bless you all.Blessings, Jamie

Your story is so similar to mine! I got pregnant at 15, we were married, and still are today. It will be 30 years this October. Thank the Lord for my Grandma too! Where would I be without her prayers and her modeling of Jesus to me in her life.

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My name is Crystal and I'm a mom to 8 grown children and grandma to 14 adorable grandchildren. I love to blog about homemaking, cooking and baking, family, homeschooling, life in midlife, and more. Thanks for stopping by!